Courtesy of their performances at last weekend’s area dual meets, both Roswell and Chattahoochee clinched spots in this weekend’s Class AAAAAA State Dual Wrestling tournament in Macon.

The Hornets qualified by winning the 5AAAAAA championship, going a perfect 3-0 and topping Wheeler High School in the championship match 52-15. Chattahoochee, who hails from 6AAAAAA, advanced to state by finishing second at their area meet.

“We had a great week of practice and I think our early season scheduling this year really had us well prepared,” said Roswell wrestling coach Evan Goff. “Winning our area was a bench-mark that we wanted to accomplish this season and our senior class really did a great job of leading us in those matches.”

The Hornets head to Macon as the No. 5 seed in the 16-team state dual tournament which will commence tomorrow in the Macon Centerplex. The Hornets will open up against Rockdale County with a win pitting them against the winner of Newnan and No. 4 seed North Forsyth in round two.

“We haven’t seen a lot of these schools in duals this year, but we feel good about where we are at right now,” said the Roswell coach. “If we wrestle like we are capable of I feel really good about our matchups through the early rounds.”

Other schools seeded in the tournament include No. 1 Archer, No. 2 Collins Hill and defending dual state champion Camden County as the No. 3 seed — a team Chattahoochee will have the honor of opening up against.

“We saw them earlier in the year and we know it is a tough draw to start out,” said Chattahoochee head coach J.J. Hicks.

Upsetting a seeded school may not be too surprising as ‘Hooch nearly beat No. 4 seeded North Forsyth at the 6AAAAAA duals last weekend, losing by just four points despite being forced to forfeit six points in one weight class.

The Cougars bounced back though and topped West Forsyth in the second-place match 39-36 thanks to a clinching victory from 182-pounder Shawn Hoffman.

Hoffman’s win sealed Chattahoochee’s first trip to state in school history.

“The duals have been around for 10 or 11 years and this is the first time Chattahoochee has qualifier, so that itself is a big accomplishment for us this year,” said Hicks who pointed our 106-pounder Jordan Pitt and 152-pound Brady Miller as other key wrestlers at the 6AAAAAA meet. “We’re excited though and we’re headed to Macon hoping to finish in the top four and bring home a trophy.”

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